Which province ventured to construct irrigation canals through private companies by assured returns on their investments in the early sixties of the nineteenth century ?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UGC NET Paper-2: History July 2018

Answer 1

Key Points

One of the key figures in post-Rebellion canal irrigation by private companies was Sir Arthur Cotton.
He devised an ambitious scheme to build a canal network across the Indian peninsula from Madras in the east to Mangalore in the West using the waters of the River Krishna.
The first section of the scheme to be sanctioned was a canal from the Tungabhadra River – the Karnul canal. So eager was the government in the pursuit of capital’s interests that little thought was given to the usefulness or viability of the projects concerned.
Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State, permitted Cotton’s scheme to proceed without challenging any of his estimates or examining its feasibility.
In 1858 the Madras Irrigation Company was formed with a government guarantee of 5 percent on a £1m capital outlay.